Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Hello from the land of no sleep! Sleep training is still under way, and some days I feel like we're making real progress, and other days I feel like I'm just torturing the poor baby. Last night was definitely the latter. I need to remind myself what the big picture is, but it's really hard at 4 am when none of us have had any sleep...

On to happier topics! My husband finally got around to buying me the second half of my birthday gift (my birthday's in December, but we were just a tad busy with the new baby!) Here it is:

This is the Brother Innovis 55P! Now, I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get this, so there was zero nagging. It's not like I have a lot of time on my hands! In fact, this beauty has been sitting on my desk for a week now, and all I've done is taken it out of the box.

And then I placed an order on 123 Stitch. I've got three different projects in my stash that I'd like to start sometime this year (ha ha! We'll see if that happens!) and I needed the floss and fabric for them:

One of the projects is going to be my new start for Gifted Gorgeousness, so stay tuned!

Finally, some stitching. I've got a little more done on the Little Sheep Virtues SAL:

This is Peace at 1200 stitches. Stitching this at a snail's pace! Tiny bit more on the border (I hate stitching borders, so I'm doing this a little at a time) and I've finished the word "Peace" along the top.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Well, it's officially hotter than hell here, and it's still only May. It's 36 degrees C today, which is 97 degrees F for all my non-metric friends. NINETY SEVEN. That really shouldn't be legal this early in the year. It's promising to be a long, hot, disgusting summer.

I've been trying to keep busy at home as much as possible, so I don't have to leave the apartment. It helps that the baby is still trying to figure out if he hates cars or loves them - every day is a roll of the dice, and I get either happy, giggling baby or wailing, miserable baby. I have a feeling he starts crying in the car because he's slightly traumatized: we had to take him to the doctor on Saturday for another round of vaccines. Does he think I'm taking him back to get stuck with a needle again?

The doctor also told me I need to start controlled crying at night. Joy oh joy! It's for my own good, I know, because lately the baby's been waking up every single hour to eat, which means I'm basically a zombie 24/7. But it just breaks my heart to let him cry, even if it's just for a few minutes.

Anyway, part of keeping busy has been knitting away at my sister's baby blanket. It's done!

I'm so, so, so happy with it! I hope she likes it. She's not due until August, so I have to wait in suspense until I see her.

This definitely has my baby's approval. Every time I took it out to work on it his eyes would light up. Bright colors! And then he would try to put it in his mouth.

The technical stuff: This was knitted in stockinette stitch with Loops & Threads Charisma Baby, two balls of Coral (five stripes) and one and a half of Cotton Candy (four stripes). It measures 30" by 30".

I've also gotten a little more done on the Little Sheep Virtues SAL:

This is Peace at 1100 stitches. A bit more on the border, and I've started the word "Peace" along the top.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is Jo from Serendipitous Stitching's
baby - we stitch on something that's been gifted to us through
exchanges or giveaways, whether a pattern, kit, fabric, floss, whatever,
and post on the 15th of the month.

For most of last year I was working on Prairie Schooler's Two By
Two, gifted to me in an exchange with Emma from Emma's Bloglet a couple of years ago (you can see my last update here). I'm a couple of days late, but I was absolutely determined to finish this month's installment. Here it is!

This is the second elephant in the set.

And here's everything I've done so far:

I don't think I've got enough fabric to stitch the giraffes, so I may have to put this project on the back-burner for now. Good news is, I can start a new one now! I need to have a rummage through my stash and see what I've got.

A minuscule amount of progress on the Little Sheep Virtues SAL:

This is Peace at 1000 stitches, believe it or not! More on the border, and I've finished the water and the fish and the little wreath around the sheep's neck.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Hello all! We're back! We got back from Japan in Saturday, and my husband had to go on a business trip on Sunday, so I've had my hands full settling back in. The baby did so well the whole trip, I was so proud of him. Just some crying when we were landing in Japan, because his poor little ears hurt. And his grandparents had the best time with him, so it was worth it for that alone.

Some knitting and stitching has been happening. A sweet lady on Ravelry sent me the yarn I needed, so I immediately picked up my needles when I got back from the post office. Here's the baby blanket now:

I'm close to being done, I think. I'm going to finish this row of coral, another row of white, and then finish it off with one last coral stripe. At least, that's the plan.

I've also managed to get some stitching done on the Little Sheep Virtues SAL. Again, I'd run out of a couple of colors, but the post office is near my LNS, so I rushed in and grabbed what I needed.

This is Peace at 900 stitches now. I've done more stitching on the border and the water. Slow and steady!

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Stitching Friends

Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

Sheep Virtues SAL

"Little Sheep Virtues." Designed by Diane Williams for Little House Needleworks. Stitched on 28 ct. Coffee Jobelan with DMC threads